HBO’s ‘The Newsroom’ Fires Writing Staff

Aaron Sorkin is re-writing the DNA of “The Newsroom” — by firing his writing staff.

In a major behind-the-scenes shake-up, Sorkin has axed a majority of the writers for the HBO drama and is replacing them with a new crew for Season 2, for which it’s already been renewed. The series debuted to 2.1 million total viewers for its June 24 premiere.

Some outlets report that all but one of the Season 1 writers have been let go — and the one Sorkin’s keeping is reportedly an ex-girlfriend (Corinne Kingsbury) — while other sites claim that’s an exaggerated exit number. Still, it’s a significant upheaval nonetheless.

While many hold Sorkin to higher expectations thanks to his TV masterpieces like “The West Wing” and “Sports Night,” as well as the Oscar-nominated film “The Social Network,” “The Newsroom” has received a fair share of mix reviews from critics. The major complaints about the show stem from … the writing, particularly the tendency for self-righteous preachiness in the dialogue and some poorly developed female characters.

“Every year each show reassesses the needs of its writing staffs,” HBO said in a statement, according to Entertainment Weekly. “This process is nothing out of the ordinary.”

“The Newsroom” stars Jeff Daniels as cable news anchor Will McAvoy, an unlikable fella who, annoyingly, is usually the smartest guy in a room. McAvoy and his army of young newshounds, directed by his ex-lover producer (Emily Mortimer), go after the big stories for the fictional network ACN amid inner turmoil in the newsroom.

“The Newsroom” airs Sunday nights at 10/9c on HBO.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.